Friday, March 27, 2015

After
ten years apart, Boston schoolmarm Jenny McShanahan receives a letter from her
beloved father that instructs her to join him in Texas. She has no idea that
he’s become Famous Sam McShan, the Robin Hood of the West. She arrives to find
Sam already gone, but he left instructions for Jenny to hire a guide and
rendezvous with him in Nevada.

Texas
Ranger Noah Daniel Webster knows Sam personally because his father, Pistol Pete
Webber, was Sam’s longtime partner in crime. When Pete is killed during their
last big score, Noah requests the assignment to bring Sam to justice. Going
undercover, he volunteers to act as Jenny’s escort across the dangerous
prairie, using her to track her outlaw father’s location.

As
they journey through rough country, love blossoms—but Noah knows the second he
arrests Sam, his betrayal will kill Jenny’s love for him. Should the lawman do
his duty as a Ranger, or should he let love rule? The choice Noah makes will
change their lives forever.

Excerpt:
(1st meeting between H/H)

Noah
watched Jenny McShanahan turn and walk up the street toward him, a determined
look set on her lovely features. He’d been slumped against a hitching post for
an hour, waiting for the two o’clock stage to arrive. He’d been wary, too, sure
that Sam McShan would meet his only daughter when she arrived in Apple Blossom.

Thank
God for his connections at the telegraph company. It had been his most solid
lead up till now. Everything else sure dried up.

Just
then she passed him, still walking down the middle of the street. He wondered
where she was going. He also wondered if she realized she’d left her case.

Noah
tipped his hat and called out to her. “Ma’am?”

She
turned, a puzzled look on her face.

“You
left your valise.” He pointed to the lone satchel sitting in the middle of the
road.

It
surprised him when the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. “So I did.” She
looked him up and down, and he almost blushed. “Thank you, sir. Perhaps I’ll
retrieve it . . . and what’s left of my brain, as well.”

She
started back toward the case. He moved quickly and stepped in front of her.
“I’ll get it, ma’am.” He ambled along and picked it up and returned it to her.

“If
you’ll tell me where you’re headed, I’ll make sure you and your bag get there.”

He
watched her think this over, and then she nodded. “Thank you, sir. I’m headed
to the local hotel.”

She
took off in long strides despite her tight skirt. He studied her carefully from
the back as he followed her to her destination. She was tall and thin, with the
tiniest waist he’d ever seen. He was sure his hands could easily span it with
room to spare. Her hat was slightly askew, revealing thick, honey blond hair
twisted up in some womanly way.

But
he longed for a glimpse from the front again. She had the most enticing eyes
he’d ever seen on a woman, a striking moss green, with long, thick lashes
surrounding them. A man could get lost in those eyes. Or her mouth. Her lips
were a soft rose and looked good enough to lick.

Now where had that come
from?

Bio & Social Media Links:

Lauren Linwood became a teacher who wrote on
the side to maintain her sanity in a sea of teenage hormones. Her romances use
history as a backdrop to place her characters in extraordinary circumstances,
where their intense desire and yearning for one another grow into the deep,
tender, treasured gift of love.

Lauren,
a native Texan, lives in a Dallas suburb with her family. An avid reader,
moviegoer, and sports fan, she manages stress by alternating yoga with five
mile walks. She is thinking about starting a support group for Pinterest and
House Hunters addicts.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

BlurbAn earth-like world of high-tech humans
faces the reality that their world is not as safe as they thought it was. Five
people are thrown together to quietly get to the bottom of an unfathomable mana
event that must stay quiet. If the population of Terath becomes aware of the
truth, it will spark a civil war. That war would pit the majority of the
population against the powerful minority with the ability to harness and
manipulate mana. The resulting cataclysm would decimate the population and tear
apart the foundation of society.

The
five people chosen for this must reconsider everything they thought they knew
about mana, even as they learn to trust one another’s abilities. They must embrace
everything they never wanted in order to prevent the devastation of their world.
One of them will be forever changed. Love will be denied, badassery will be
unleashed, and Terath will never be the same.

Even success comes at a price.

Excerpt

Not an hour
into her lone vigil, Izzy twisted around to see Arc bursting out of his tent.
Emotional upheaval and determination rolled off him like a windstorm. Without
even glancing toward Izzy, he marched to the shiv’s tent.

Izzy
scrambled to her feet and managed to intercept him before he got a hand on the
flap.

“You can’t.”
She stood between him and the tent.

“How can you
ignore the pain? You must feel it.”

“Are you
kidding me? All I can think about every second is how much I feel it. But it
has nothing to do with you right now.”

“Nothing to
do with me? Now who’s kidding who?” he snapped. “It has to stop.” He put his
hands on her shoulders and reversed their positions. He forced his way into the
tent and snapped it shut behind him.

“Well good
luck with that,” she muttered to herself. “I’ll be out here hoping both of you
aren’t dead shortly. And by the way, it’s ‘whom,’ not ‘who’.”

Bad(ass) Romance: What I Love in a Love
Story

Writing a badass heroine in love has
its challenges. Love requires vulnerability, which means letting down one’s
guard. It definitely means taking a leap of faith. Plus, it takes a very
special love interest to handle the intensity of such a heroine.

I pretty much require a badass
heroine in the books I read (and write!). I do love a good love story, too.
When I find a good heroine and a good love story together, I get very excited. I’m
listing my favorite bad(ass) romances from book and screen.

Leeloo and Corbin Dallas (The Fifth
Element)

She’s a supreme being and he doesn’t
want to be there. Until he does, and then he’ll be there forever. Love and
multipasses for all.

Devi Morris and Rupert

Okay, so I was hoping she’d kill
him, but that was only because I wanted her to be badass enough to do it. I
wasn’t sorry to see Rupert live. I can’t imagine anyone else who could be a
match for Devi.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Without even knowing each other’s
real selves, they are so into each other that they’ll take on the world
together. They’re both deadly, they’re both gorgeous, and they have amazing chemistry.
This just works on all the levels.

Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner
(Pirates of the Caribbean)

Neither starts out very badass, but
they grow into pirates together. They double-cross each other, fight on
opposite sides, and marry in the middle of a battle. Because pirates. And love.
And arrrgh.

Richard and Kahlan (Wizard’s First
Rule)

She gets her con dar on when she
thinks he’s dead. He surrenders his soul to her. Two sides of a lot of guts-out
love. Plus, magic.

Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy
(Pride and Prejudice)

That’s right. I said it. Because she
was proud and he was prejudiced and both of them were right and both of them
were wrong. She refused to get married to the wrong man merely to secure her
future. She preferred to face potential poverty than sell herself for the price
of a household. He overturned his better judgment and committed to his love for
her. For their point in time, they were uber badasses in love.

So there you are! What are your
favorite badass romances?

Zen DiPietro is a
lifelong bookworm, a fantasy/sci-fi writer, a dancer, and a mom of two. Also
red-haired, left-handed, and a vegetarian geek. Absolutely terrible at
conforming. Particular loves include badass heroines, Star Trek, British
accents, baba ganoush, and the smell of Band-Aids. Writing reviews, author
interviews, and fun stuff at www.womenofbadassery.com. Very active on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Pages

About Maggie

Maggie is a writer of paranormal and contemporary romance. She lives in Adelaide, Australia and is a member of Romance Writers of Australia, and the local chapter SARA(South Australian Romance Authors). She hasa Bachelor of Arts in Drama, English and Creative Writing atFlinders University. She had a short story published in theRWA Topaz Anthology Little Gems in 2010 called Sea andVines. She has six books out with Rogue Phoenix Press. She also has four paranormal romances with Soul Mate Publishing. She is also published in contemporary romance with Evernight Publishing.

She has also performed for many years in corporateentertainment for which she wrote her own sketches, whichprobably explains why her head is so full of characters. Sheloves writing romance but thinks falling in love can be scary,especially in her stories where creatures of the night really exist.